


Catching Shadows

by Pseudonymous_Elusa



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU, Ambiguity, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Good Friend, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders is a Mess, Apologies, Bad Nicknames, Because I love this AU, Betrayal, But also, Character Development, Chekhov's Gun, Corruption, Dubious Morality, Eventual Happy Ending, Friendship, Human AU, I spent too much time on tvtropes.org while writing this, I was going to make it like a sitcom, I'm Bad At Summaries, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm adding tags as I write this, I'm not good at tagging, Lies, Logic | Logan Sanders Is A Good Friend, Logic | Logan Sanders Needs a Hug, Logic | Logan Sanders is Bad at Feelings, Miscommunication, Misinformation, Misunderstandings, Patton and Roman are stubborn, Questionable Choices, Redemption, Redemption arc?, Secret Identity, Secret Identity Fail, So is Deceit, Sympathetic Dark Sides (Sanders Sides), Team as Family, This Is Not Going To Go The Way You Think, Unreliable Narrator, Virgil has a cat, Why did I decide that that needed to be tagged?, abandoned romantic sublot, ambiguous setting, ambiguous timeline, but he's tired of having them listen to the same 3 songs on repeat, but no one does, capitalist society sucks, certain characters hurt their friends and are forgiven for it later, deceit sanders has a point, deceit's anticapitalist agenda, even I don't know what's going on, everyone thinks they know what's going on, good parenting, heavy-handed symbolism, instead it's a mess, no one is unsympathetic, patton and logan own a vetrinary practice, plot twist(s), remus gets thrown into a dumpster, superhero au, sympathetic light sides (Sanders Sides) too, tagged in no paticular order, there might be a sequel at some point, this is way more angsty and dramatic than it was supposed to be, this was supposed to be more virgil-centric than it turned out to be, virgil and remus are super into halloween
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-15
Updated: 2019-12-15
Packaged: 2021-02-26 04:20:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 15,521
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21797518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pseudonymous_Elusa/pseuds/Pseudonymous_Elusa
Summary: Notion, Trueheart, and Minerva (also known as Roman, Patton, and Logan) are the good guys, and Auger, Blackguard, and Spectre (also known as Deceit, Remus, and Virgil) are the bad guys. At least, that's what the government wants you to think. But when one of the so-called "villains" is unmasked, how do the "heroes" react? And what does the mayor have to do with anything?HUGE thank-you to @nopartyuntilanxiety and @char-of-the-stars for beta-reading this!
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Dark Creativity | Remus "The Duke" Sanders & Deceit Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Thomas Sanders, Creativity | Roman & Logic | Logan & Morality | Patton
Comments: 16
Kudos: 86
Collections: Sanders Sides Secret Santa 2019





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ShadeCrawler](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadeCrawler/gifts).

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is a Superhero AU! Starring Roman as Notion, Patton as Trueheart, Logan as Minerva...

Anyone you ask will tell you that superheroes aren’t real. For the most part, that’s true. Superheroes are usually just ordinary people who were in the right place at the right time, with the right set of skills. Usually.

Roman wasn’t relying on luck to handle the when and where. He wasn’t some crime-chaser either, listening to a police scanner at night and hoping to beat them to the scene. Roman relied on something far more accurate, which could tell when and where a crime would happen before it did, something (or rather, someone) who-

“Are you sure it’s happening here, Minerva? And tonight?”

“Of course not. Nothing is ever certain, Trueheart. But of the options, tonight is most probable, and if not tonight it will either be tomorrow night or not at all. And if it is happening, it will happen here.”

-was not actually infallible. Which was fine. Logan (or Minerva, when they were out like this) always struggled when he had to deal with other people’s choices. Instead of one certain future, he’d see several - a network of unreliable streams, pools, and rapids that split and twisted away from the broad river of fate. Next time, Roman would have to make a more comfortable chair before the stakeout started in earnest. Perhaps a recliner, as his current overstuffed wing-backed armchair was putting a crick in his neck.

His eyes drifted across the alleyway. They’d been waiting for hours, and he was about ready to call it a night when he noticed a flicker of movement.

“Halt, fiend!” He leapt to his feet, a sword forming in his hand. 

The rat did not halt, and instead continued to gnaw at the edge of the pizza box it had found beside the dumpster.

Roman cursed under his breath. He had no reason to be so nervous as to threaten a rat! He was completely in control of the situation! He turned back to Patton and Logan, ready to scold them for laughing at him, and froze. It seemed that the attack they were waiting for would happen tonight after all.

Minerva, Notion, and Trueheart were staking out a building which their nemeses (a dastardly band of ruffians known as Blackguard, Auger, and Spectre) were apparently planning to meet at, and the party of villains had just come to them.


	2. Prologue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ... and Virgil as Spectre, Deceit as Auger, and Remus as Blackguard!

Virgil did _not_ want to be a supervillain. He didn’t even want to be a petty criminal, but he wasn’t exactly going to leave his two best friends to get into trouble alone, not when he could help them avoid that altogether just by tagging along. He was just like one of the poor parents who got conned into chaperoning their kid’s grade school field trips, or the guardian keeping an unstoppable evil sealed away in a fairy tale - the only thing holding back a ceaseless tide of unfathomable chaos which would inevitably destroy itself along with the world as it was now known.

He blamed Eth- Deceit. They’d been friends since they were kids, and it had been way too easy for him to convince Virgil to tag along. He hadn’t even needed to use his powers!

They’d started small. Deceit would go into fancy places (the kind of places where rich people hang out at in order to remind others of how rich they are) and politely ask people to give him money, or to put in a word with someone influential for him. They would always oblige. They couldn’t help it. No one could.

Virgil hadn’t minded that part so much, since it wasn’t actually hurting anyone, and they often shared whatever they got with whoever they happened to run into, so it helped a whole bunch of people. He wouldn’t have even called that villainy, although it was illegal.

Other people seemed to disagree. They made headlines as “evil supervillains” who were “stealing from good hard working americans” and “threatening policymakers” in order to further their “nefarious agenda.” (Yeah, right. There was only one agenda Virgil was interested in, though these types would probably call that one nefarious too.)

Even once their night job got harder (hard enough that they recruited Remus and his… unique set of skills), they hadn’t done anything Virgil even thought was maybe a little bit wrong in passing until they acquired nemeses. 

Now, there were a few good people who genuinely thought they were doing the right thing by opposing him and his friends. It made Virgil nervous. Not like that was hard, but it wasn’t good for Virgil to be nervous about things like their nightly activities. That was how things had gotten more dangerous last time.

Virgil shook his head and glanced across the street. The annoyingly persistent do-gooders were still facing the wrong way. In fact, he expected something would happen that would draw Notion (the most dangerous among their rivals, and the only one who could effectively counter Remus’s powers) further down the alleyway they were staked out in.

As Notion drew his sword, Deceit sidled up to Virgil. “What do you think, Spectre? Will Blackguard manage the door before they notice us?”

A pit formed in his stomach. “Of course he will.” His voice quavered. Until Deceit asked, Virgil hadn’t even considered that Remus might not work quickly enough to get them in and out undetected. Now he was realizing exactly how likely it was that they would fail tonight because one of the “heroes” turned around at the wrong time.

He locked eyes with Notion across the street, and Deceit sighed. “Sorry, Spectre. I didn’t mean to get you all worked up over nothing. Could you finish up here while Blackguard and I take out the trash?”

Virgil nodded silently and slipped past Remus through the now-open door. He assumed Remus had taken care of the alarms, and started to collect the valuables which would be easiest to fence. Despite his general disinterest in crime, he had to admit that he had the eye for it - and, of course, the raw potential.

He just hoped Remus and Deceit would be okay. Virgil knew that they could easily counter anything Trueheart or Notion could throw at them, but he didn’t know what Minerva could do. He started moving a little faster.

* * *

Patton watched as the villains noticed them. One of them slipped backwards, and the other two - Auger and Blackguard, which meant that Spectre (who seemed to be the most harmless of the group) was the one inside - sauntered towards them.

Immediately, Roman was fighting Blackguard. Logan rushed in to help, and Patton stared awkwardly at Auger. Fighting was not his specialty, though Logan and Roman were immediately immersed in the action. It was a bit jarring how different their conflict management tactics were. 

“You don’t really want to fight us, do you?” Patton winced as he heard someone getting thrown against the dumpster behind him. _‘That had to have hurt.’_ Auger didn’t seem to notice, despite facing the fight head-on.

“Not particularly,” Augur drawled, carefully ignoring the intense sword fight taking place behind his foe, “but then, you brought the fight. We were doing just fine before you all decided to jump in.” He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as someone was once again slammed into the dumpster - probably Blackguard. Patton glanced over his shoulder to check, and sure enough, Blackguard was struggling his way out of the trash heaps with Logan and Roman watching him carefully.

Patton frowned. “You should focus on Notion and Minerva, I think they’re almost done with your friend.”

Augur finally turned his full attention to the scene and scowled. Logan and Roman were indeed subduing Blackguard, if one could call it that. On some silent signal, the two switched places, and Patton found himself facing Blackguard alone. The smell alone was almost enough to defeat him, and Patton found himself struggling to form pacifying words through such a stench. Blackguard, on the other hand, barely seemed to notice.

Suddenly, Spectre rushed outside, bag of valuables in hand, and froze, taking in the mismatched battlefield the silent street had become. He watched as Auger forced Blackguard and Notion to switch places, then handed the bag off to Auger and stepped forward to fight Minerva. In the ensuing chaos, Patton lost track of who was fighting who.

“Stop!” 

Everyone froze, and Patton used the moment to regain his bearings. Logan was trapped by conjured vines, and Blackguard and the stolen goods had both disappeared, but Roman was holding something new, staring blankly at Auger. Clearly, he had been the target of the compulsive demand.

Spectre was also still, a look of shock and horror painted on his face. Patton tried to figure out why he would be so upset, and then it clicked. What Roman was holding. Why Auger had stopped the fight, when he usually reserved his powers for people who didn’t know to expect his influence. Why he could see Spectre’s terrified expression in the first place.

Auger stepped forward and whispered something to Roman, who obediently handed over Spectre’s hooded mask, unblinking. Patton looked towards Logan, who was staring at Spectre as if trying to catalogue each feature and commit his face to memory. Purple hair, brown eyes, strong jaw...

Auger slipped Spectre’s mask back over his head, and they disappeared into the night, the latter of the two visibly shaken. It was only after they were gone that Patton thought to snap Logan and Roman out of Auger’s trance so they could all get up and go home.


	3. Chapter Two: Enter Virgil, Stage Right

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team talks, paths cross, Remy is there,

Logan and Patton were sitting at their usual table when Roman got to the diner for breakfast. They were all shaken after last night, but parted ways before discussing it so that Patton and Logan could sleep before their shifts at the veterinary practice. 

Roman was bursting to talk about what happened with Spectre, and started almost as soon as he sat down. “So, Spectre’s kind of hot, huh?” Patton choked on his drink, while Logan simply raised an eyebrow.

“When we agreed to talk about it this morning, that is not the direction I expected our discussion to take,” Logan sighed.

“I’ve never seen him before,” Patton interjected, trying to keep the conversation on track. “Did he look familiar to either of you?”

“I didn’t recognise him, and I never forget a pretty face.”

Logan smirked now, and Roman could feel trouble approaching. “Oh? What about Remy? You two dated for nearly eighteen months in high school, and then you took more than two months to realize that the teenager you went out with was the same person who now owns your favorite diner. That does not sound like a particularly excellent record to me.”

The man in question arrived with their food while Roman was sputtering. “Come on babes, I’m not sure who you’re fighting over, but leave me out of it.”

Patton grabbed Remy’s hand before he left, ignoring the dark looks from Logan and Roman. “Actually, you might be able to help us. Roman saw a cute guy last night and was upset that he didn’t know how to find him again. Do you know anyone with purple hair who usually looks like he needs a nap?”

“Just Virge from the bookstore across the street, but I don’t think you’re looking for him. He isn’t the type to go anywhere that Roman might have been, and he certainly doesn’t buy into that ‘love at first sight’ bullshit. He is pretty yummy though,” Remy smirked as Roman’s face went dark red. “I wouldn’t fault you for wanting a piece of that. Be gentle, though. The poor boy’s an anxious mess.” With that, Remy danced off to continue working.

Logan glanced at his watch. “While I think we should investigate this ‘Virge,’ it will have to wait. If Patton and I don’t leave soon, we’ll be late for work. I suggest we dedicate the remainder of our time here this morning to eating - not gossiping about hot boys like high school students during lunch.”

* * *

Patton sat glumly behind the check-in desk at the clinic. He loved helping animals, but his heart wasn’t in it today. He was still hung up on what had happened the night before. Spectre had looked so scared, and Patton couldn’t help but feel bad for him. He couldn’t imagine having Blackguard, Auger, and Spectre know what he looked like, able to search for him by day, and planning to interrupt him at work. (And to harass anyone who even vaguely resembled him at their own jobs. He still wasn’t sure that Remy’s tip would lead them to the right person, after all and wouldn’t that be embarrassing for everyone involved.)

His brooding was interrupted when someone rushed in the doors. “Roman?” That wasn’t right. Roman wouldn’t wear such a ridiculous mustache, even for a part. The man looked at him in silence for just a second, seeming absolutely offended.

“What? No. My name is Remus. Look, can I check in without the animal present? It’s apparently an emergency, something about how weirdly cold it was last night, and my friend doesn’t want it to die.”

Patton frowned at Remus’s apparent indifference to whether the mystery animal lived or died, but rushed through the check-in process. By the time he was done, a man in a bowler hat with an odd mark covering the left side of his face was sitting in the waiting room with a small black bundle.

As he waited for his brother to be ready for the new patient, Patton couldn’t help but overhear as Remus and the newcomer conversed.

“I wasn’t expecting you to bring it. Where’s Virgil?”

“He was freaking out, so I sent him to work. Once we’re done here, I’ll drop it in his apartment and go man the register so he can hide in the storeroom. Did you take care of-”

“Of course I did! I even made him breakfast before he left! He didn’t eat it, though.” Patton watched in horror as Remus pulled a stick of deodorant from his pocket and took a bite. 

“I can’t imagine why,” his friend responded dryly, refusing the offered deodorant. Patton looked down for a moment, trying to banish the image of Remus eating deodorant, of all things, from his mind. “But I meant the things we _found_ last night, not your one-night-stand, or whoever you were talking to. I don’t care about your sex life, and don’t care who you practice lines with as long as it isn’t me.”

Remus put the deodorant away, and Patton breathed a minuscule sigh of relief. “Oh. Yeah, I stuck the bag under Virgil’s pillow this morning.”

“Do I want to know how you got in?”

“Probably not.”

The ensuing silence made Patton inexplicably uncomfortable, and he was never so relieved to see the back of anyone as when Logan ushered Remus, Bowler-hat guy, and their bundle of fur into the examination room.

* * *

Roman scowled as he attempted to rehearse his lines. He flung the script to the table for probably the hundredth time that morning, crossing his arms and beginning to pace around the room. He wanted so badly to check out the guy at the bookstore Remy was talking about that morning (in more ways than one) but he had agreed to wait until either Patton or Logan were able to accompany him, since they were so worried that he’d “do something rash.” Roman was never rash! He always kept his head, even in dangerous situations! Why, just last night…

Okay, so last night was probably a bad example. But he’d kept his head in tense situations before! There was no reason to make him wait! He’d go and see whether or not “Virge” was the person he was looking for, and if he was, Roman would invite him on a date, and then trap him, somehow! His plan was foolproof!

* * *

The plan was supposed to be foolproof. Get in, get the goods, get out. Virgil wasn’t sure where specifically it had gone wrong, but now he was hiding, his anxiety beating down on him harder than it ever had before. Any one of the people walking down the street outside could be one of his nemeses, and he wouldn’t know until they had already lured him down a dark alleyway to get rid of him, or possibly until they threw his lifeless body into the river. Remus and Etha-Deceit would never know what had happened to him, at least not until one of the so-called heroes taunted them with the information. His dad would never know what had happened to him! Remy might even miss him when he stopped showing up for coffee every afternoon, despite his insistence on pushing other beverages at Virgil in order to wean him down to a healthier amount of daily caffeine..

The bell over the door rang, and Virgil cringed, the blood draining from his face. He couldn’t face customers today! He ducked behind the shelves. If the customer found him, he could claim to be stocking shelves, but that was unlikely. This store was a labyrinth, and it was entirely likely that even Deceit (who sometimes also worked in the store) wouldn’t be able to find him.

For the first time that morning, Virgil smiled. He then turned a corner and walked straight into someone’s chest, then landed hard on the unforgiving floor. _‘Fuck_.’

* * *

Roman was frustrated. “Virge” was supposed to be working here, and yet he couldn’t be found anywhere! The store was set up like once entered, it was to swallow potential customers whole, never to see the light of day again. He scowled, wondering as he turned a corner how this stupid store ever made any sales with no employees or customers in sight, only to run right into someone and knock them over.

He stepped back, scrambling to help the other person up, and froze as he locked eyes with a familiar terrified face. _Spectre._


	4. Chapter Three: All Enter, Center Stage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil panics, Roman secures a date, and it's all very gay

Virgil saw his life flash before his eyes as he stumbled to his feet, his breath caught traitorously in his throat. Someone who he had never seen before in all his life was looking at him with shocked recognition written clearly on his face. That would ordinarily be bad enough, but he’d been obsessing over this happening since he was unmasked the night before, and so it was quick to figure out that this wasn’t just some forgotten acquaintance from highschool. 

He almost thought it was Remus playing a tasteless joke on him at first, until he realized that Remus was far too attached to his moustache to get rid of it, even to play a trick on him. That meant that this was probably either Notion, Trueheart, or Minerva. 

He quickly dismissed Notion. What were the odds that the mystery man would look so much like Remus _and_ share his powers? No, this had to be either Trueheart or Minerva, here to finish him off now that they knew his true identity.

But he wasn’t attacking. He was just standing there, staring at Virgil with those huge brown eyes... Surely if Virgil had run into one of his nightly rivals, he would be under attack by now, perhaps even dead. Okay, so this probably wasn’t one of his nemeses. Then that begged the question: _who was he?_

* * *

Roman couldn’t move. He could only stare at the beautiful man in front of him. Spectre - or, no, this had to be “Virge,” the man Remy had suggested... Who was also Spectre... Who was a criminal…. He looked like he’d been sculpted out of marble. His beautiful silky hair falling into his wide eyes, his slightly parted lips, his gorgeous _face_ … No one that beautiful could be evil. Maybe he was being coerced into criminal activity. Auger could definitely manage it. Roman would have to save him, bring him back to the side of righteousness where he could be free, and happy at Roman’s side-

A hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance. He turned to see a stranger in a bowler hat with an odd scar covering the left side of his face. A birthmark? The new man rolled his eyes at Roman’s dumbstruck expression and pushed past him to help Spectre - “Virge” up. Roman glanced at Spectre’s nametag. ‘ _Virgil, huh?’_

The newcomer stopped and glanced back at Roman. “Do I know you?”

Roman swore internally. 

“You look a lot like a _friend_ of ours, except a little less… eccentric.” 

Roman began cursing more furiously in his head. Did they know about his nightly activities? How could they recognise him, though? Unlike Virgil, he had never been unmasked while on the job.

“Do you know anyone named Remus?”

Roman stumbled over his words, struggling to change gears after his panic over thinking they knew about his alter ego. “I, uh... Remus?”

“You know him? He was just here, I’ll go get him real quick. He might be able to introduce us, since you don’t seem to be inclined to.” 

The bowler hat guy left, and soon returned (unfortunately before Roman could start any small talk with Virgil) with a greasy man sporting an even greasier moustache. Roman immediately recognised him, both from the crowds of fellow actors at auditions and from their weekly Skype sessions, which mostly consisted of threats and clever insults. Exactly the Remus he was worried that they might be referring to.

* * *

Remus was a tad confused when Deceit came to get him. He couldn’t think of why he’d be needed to get Virgil to hide and be safe - usually, it was much harder to coax him _out_ than _in_ . He did _not_ expect to see his brother and Virgil staring into each other’s eyes like lovestruck teenagers. It was almost enough to make him want to vomit, but he decided to save that for a special occasion.

He hadn’t seen Roman much since he’d been adopted by Deceit’s parents and forced to leave him behind. They saw each other face to face at auditions every so often, but mostly kept up through Skype. Now he had to decide whether Roman would be more annoyed to be addressed as a sibling or as a colleague.

It was the look Roman was sending him that sealed the deal. The get-me-out-of-this look that Remus knew all so well… He decided to throw his brother to Deceit, on a matter of principle. And, fine, it’d be pretty fun to see him flail for once.

“Eugh, did you stalk me all the way here?” Remus asked, pressing his hand to his heart with feigned indignation. “I’m almost flattered! But mostly disturbed, and not just in the usual ways. I mean, come on! You audition with a guy _one time_ and suddenly he’s following you around like a lost puppy!”

Roman’s eye twitched, his expression very clearly screaming something along the lines of “jesus-fuck-what-the-hell-are-you-doing.” Remus: 1, Roman: 0.

Remus just smiled, soaking up the success of the interaction. Already he had made Virgil relax and his brother look about ready to kill him - not like it was a rare occurrence. Remus was always getting on Roman’s nerves, whether he was trying to or not.

“Look, I’ll see you at callbacks next week, but I’ll be choosing a different scene partner. You’re kind of lame.” Again, Remus couldn’t help but grin at the look on Roman’s face. He would get yelled at during their next Skype call, sure, but the rage and embarrassment on Roman’s face was just so _worth it._

“Well, you’re kind of _deranged,”_ Roman hissed, stuffing his hands into his pockets in defeat. 

Remus glanced at Virgil, then rolled his eyes. “Whatever. I just got a dozen cans of Mountain Dew, and I’m going to go see what happens if I throw them into oncoming traffic. Later!”” The bell on the door jingled as he left.

Roman quickly scanned the rest of the store - the bowler hat guy (whose name Roman should _really_ try to find out, because this was getting ridiculous) was standing behind the cash register, pretending to ignore them but clearly ready to come intervene if he felt it necessary - and then turned his eyes back to Virgil. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry about him. We-”

Virgil laughed, and _oh_ , if Roman hadn’t been smitten before, he was now. “Don’t be. We’ve been friends for years, I know how he gets.” Then he smirked. “If you really feel bad about it, though, you can take me out for coffee. Do you like Remy’s?”

Roman’s jaw dropped. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw bowler hat guy raise an eyebrow.

“I- I mean, if you want to. I don’t mean to presume, it’s just, I thought-”

Finally regaining control of his senses, Roman squeaked out “No, of course I want to! It’s just, I thought I’d have to ask you. Remy’s is great! Um, how about tomorrow, around noon?”

Virgil looked relieved, but no less embarrassed. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll see you then.” He then disappeared into the back of the store with Roman staring longingly after him.

Suddenly, bowler hat guy called out. “Are you planning to buy anything, or were you just here to creep on Virgil?” Roman blushed and ducked out the door without replying, though his answer was clear.

* * *

Roman slipped his phone out of his pocket as soon as he’d left the bookstore. He hadn’t wanted to wait, but he couldn’t call Patton and Logan about Virgil until there was absolutely no chance of him being overheard by either Virgil or his persistent friends. He was a little jealous that Remus got to be one of those friends, if he was being honest.

Logan picked up the phone on the third ring. He sounded irritated (as he usually did when Roman called him before his shift was technically over, which was often), but Roman plowed forward (as he usually did when he called Logan before his shift was technically over, which was often). 

“So, I went to the bookstore, and you wouldn’t _believe_ what happened!”

He could hear the scowl in Logan’s voice. “You mean, you went, without us, to do the thing that you had expressly agreed not to do without us? And then, let me guess, you said something tactless - as usual - which got you thrown out of the store, and now you won’t be able to come with us to confirm whether or not Remy’s ‘ _Virge’_ is Spectre or not?”

Roman waited until Logan’s muffled reprimand was finished, and then continued. “His full name is ‘Virgil,’ and we’re going on a date at Remy’s tomorrow.”

Patton, who had apparently wrestled the phone from Logan, piped in, “So he’s not Spectre? We have to start loo-”

“Oh, he’s Spectre alright. But I don't think he’s Spectre of his own free will. That’s why you two are going to crash our date.”

The phone was on speaker now, and Logan was clearly catching on to what Roman was saying. “You think that Auger controls his compatriots, the way we saw some of their earlier crimes done.”

“I’m not sure that sounds quite right, kiddo.”

Roman misinterpreted Patton’s words on purpose. “Of course it’s not right! That’s why it’s our responsibility to free them from the tyrannical fiend! And that starts with the two of you crashing my date!”

He didn’t mention his brother, or that he suspected Blackguard’s identity. That could wait until they met in person again. And until someone else brought it up. (And maybe he’d keep it to himself, even then. His fraternal instincts may have been geared more towards his foster brothers than his biological one, but he would still keep Remus’ secrets.)


	5. Chapter Four: Who Enters?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil, Remus, and Deceit meet up to talk smack about everyone else, including each other

Virgil had forgotten about the events of the morning by the time he got off of work, so he was surprised to have a ball of black fur winding its way through his legs when he opened the door to his apartment. He’d found the kitten abandoned in a cardboard box on the side of the road on his way to work, and Deceit (who was tagging along) had immediately taken control of the situation, sending Virgil on to work and calling Remus to convince him to help take care of the little creature.

He scooped up his new charge and peeked at the collar his friends had bought - a purple band with a dark spider web pattern, a small, black bell, and a tag that had his phone number, address, and a blank spot for the cat’s name, over which a bit of tape had been placed which said “Who?”

Before he could do much else, Remus barged through his front door, chattering on about something with Deceit, who was trailing behind him. When he saw Virgil cradling the kitten in his arms, he stopped talking to Deceit and directed his attention at Virgil instead.

“So I heard that a certain someone asked you out on a date, and you said yes.”

Deceit jumped in. “And  _ I _ heard that you were the one who asked  _ him _ , and  _ he _ said yes.”

Virgil furrowed his brow. “You were  _ both _ there when it happened, why are you contradicting each other? Who was telling you these things?”

Grinning like he’d just been let in on a joke, Remus replied “No, of course not. Who’s been here since the vet let her go.”

Seeing that Virgil was confused, Deceit explained. “He wants to call the cat ‘Who,’ like that line in the Halloween song I refuse to name.”

“I am the ‘Who’ when you call ‘Who’s there?’” Remus sang, his volume surprisingly restrained. 

Virgil laughed, and joined in. “I am the wind blowing through your hair, I am the shadow on the moon at night, filling your dreams to the brim with fright!”

With an eye roll, Deceit joined in with a flat voice as they began to chant the chorus. “This is Halloween, this is Halloween, yada yada yada, it’s not even September yet.”

“Halloween is a state of being, you poo-head!” With that war cry, Remus tackled Deceit to the floor. Virgil was tempted to join them, but decided to start “making” dinner. They finally stopped wrestling when Who came over to investigate, and as soon as they were still enough, Virgil dropped the foil-wrapped sandwiches he’d pulled from the fridge into each of their laps.

After they had eaten, Virgil pulled out his phone for his weekly skype call with his dad. Remus and Deceit sat next to him, so that they were all squished into the chair Remus had conjured for his apartment - an overstuffed recliner the color of baby poop with a hideous magenta splatter pattern, making it look like someone had dismantled a printer cartridge on the seat with a sledgehammer - which was barely wide enough for two people to share if they were cuddling. They had told his dad that they had found it in a thrift store, but from the look he’d given them, he definitely knew that that was a lie.

They had a ritual when talking to Virgil’s dad. Virgil would talk first, and then he would ask about the others. They would both pretend to be reluctant to talk, but would always drop their token resistance quickly. He had practically raised them, after all.

“And how are Ethan and Remus doing? Or, sorry, Deceit and Remus?” He always had trouble with Deceit’s preferred nickname, as he had nearly two decades of experience calling him ‘Ethan,’ but as he used the wrong name less frequently every week and corrected himself every time, Deceit usually didn’t get offended.

“They’re good, Dad,” Virgil replied with a bemused look at Remus on his left, who was shimmying with excitement.

Remus couldn’t wait any longer, and burst out, “I set Virgil up on a date!”

Virgil scowled. “You did not! You introduced the guy, insulted him in half a dozen different ways, and left. If anything,  _ I _ set me up on that date!”

“Yeah, but if I hadn’t calmed you down or Remus hadn’t introduced the guy, you would have just kept staring at him. What was that about? I didn’t think he was  _ that _ attractive.”

“I thought he was going to kill me! He seemed to recognize me, and after last night-”

His dad interrupted. “Woah, what happened last night?”

Virgil, Remus, and Deceit had never outright lied to Virgil’s dad about anything important, and they weren’t about to start now. “He got unmasked by Notion, and all three of them got a good look.. It made him paranoid, even though his face isn’t that distinctive,” Deceit answered.

“My face might not be, but my hair is! Minerva or Trueheart could totally have recognized me!”

Remus shifted uneasily. “Not Notion? He got the best look at you, being right next to you and all.”

“Of course,” interjected Deceit. “Notion is absolutely smart enough to pick Virgil here out of a crowd of other doe-eyed, violet-haired heartthrobs. He definitely wasn’t more concerned with staring at his lips than remembering anything about his face. Shame Virgil’s into the weird guy from the bookstore, he and Notion could have had quite the thing going. They would have had to kill themselves to get us to stop fighting with Notion’s ‘lawful good’ pals. I would have cried.”

The tension in Remus’s shoulders dissolved. “Yeah, you’re probably right, Snakespeare.”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “As if I would ever let that happen. Dating Notion would be like dating Remus, if he lost everything that made him exciting to be around and decided to jump aboard the ‘legality defines morality’ train. That’s just weird and gross. Your more… revolutionary ideas may make me anxious, but I think I would actually cry if either of you became boring like that.”

Virgil’s dad frowned. “What do you plan to do now that they could recognize you, Virgil? You might not even know until it was too late, and I don’t want you to get hurt. If you want, you can always come stay with me until they back off a bit.”

“I appreciate the offer, dad, but I think I’ll stay here with these two. They need someone to take care of them.”

Deceit leaned forward, a rare vulnerable expression crossing his face. “We’ll take care of him. If anything happens, I’m sure we can escape and come home to recoup.”

Virgil’s dad smiled. “I’m sure that you three will be safe as long as you’re together. Take care of each other, and remember that you’re always welcome here. Now Virgil, about that date?”

And so they began planning how the date would go. Remus and Deceit would be there, of course, and if they thought something was going wrong that was beyond their ability to handle, they’d text his dad to come up with an emergency that would get him out of there. They still weren’t taking any chances with Virgil’s safety, after all. 

Virgil protested, but they all knew that he was pleased that they were willing to go to such lengths to look out for him. Before too long, they hung up the call and fell asleep, one by one, as a parade of Disney characters took their turns on the TV screen. It was tradition, after all.


	6. Chapter Five: Enter Thomas, All Exit (Open Act 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thomas is Virgil's dad, Deceit and Remus grew up next door, Thomas is a supportive parent.

Roman and Virgil met up at Remy’s diner, as they had agreed several days before. They both pretended not to notice Deceit and Remus follow Virgil in. (To their credit, they had at least  _ tried _ to disguise themselves. Deceit had stolen one of Virgil’s hoodies and was a pair of cheap sunglasses, contrasting his usual put-together look, and Remus was wearing a ridiculously huge plastic false nose and had put something questionable in his hair <including his moustache, and maybe even the hair that wasn’t on his head> to make it all look greyed and greasy, instead of concentrating his efforts on his signature pale streak.)

Soon, as Roman had planned (and as Patton and Logan had rehearsed), the brothers descended on their table and took over the date.

“Roman? I’m quite surprised to see you here. When you said that you would be passing up on our usual meetup in favor of getting to know a potential romantic interest, you declined to mention that you would be bringing him here.”

Virgil frowned. “That’s because I suggested it. I like the coffee.”

As if summoned by the mention of his beloved drink, Remy danced over, menus in hand. “That better not be the only thing you like, gurl, or you and I will be having words. Get you some real food too, unless you want my dad to bug you about your diet the next time you see him.”

Roman tried not to be jealous. It was good that Virgil was more at ease, it would make his quest for information easier. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t the one to put that smile on his face. 

He was startled out of his thoughts by Virgil’s two friends from the bookstore - his own brother and the guy with the hat - in weird disguises pushed Patton and Logan aside. Roman frowned - he’d only planned to have his date crashed  _ once _ , and only by his own friends. His frown only became more pronounced when Remus opened his mouth.

“Virrrgil, how  _ arre _ you?”

“What is that accent? Are you pretending to be Dracula or something?”

The man with the hat - whose name Roman still didn’t know - joined in. “Yeah, Virgil, how  _ are _ you? It’s not like we came here together or anything, we haven’t seen you in ages.”

Remus nodded, and tried to drape himself across Virgil’s shoulders. Roman was surprised to note how well Virgil handled his new human scarf. “It’s been at least a solid ten minutes. I missed you!”

Patton and Logan shared a significant look as the other two date-crashers started bickering with Virgil. Perhaps Roman wasn’t wrong to say that Spectre might be a criminal against his will. If these were his… associates (which was not necessarily true, but the personalities did seem to line up) then the squabbling may be a sign of Virgil’s reluctance to be with them. 

They both missed the fond looks being exchanged alongside the witty barbs, though Roman didn’t. He gave a conflicted smile, happy that his date (and his estranged brother too, probably) had such exciting friends, but jealous that they could capture his attention so easily, oblivious to the conclusions Patton and Logan were drawing about said friend’s (and said brother’s) identities. He hoped that his brother (assuming Roman was correct about his nightly activities) was just as unwilling a participant as he’d convinced himself that Virgil was. That would make their redemption arcs much easier.

Suddenly, Virgil’s phone rang, and the bickering stopped. Apparently there was something significant about the ringtone, because Virgil hadn’t seemed to be the type to ignore his date in favor of answering a phone call (or even to answer a phone call under any circumstances) but he picked up immediately.

“Dad? Is something wrong?” 

Roman noticed the lack of panic in his date’s voice, but couldn’t figure out why that seemed to be wrong. Instead, he listened to the frustratingly one-sided conversation until Virgil hung up. 

“I have to go. That was my dad, his basement flooded and he wanted to see if I could help him move things so they wouldn’t get damaged. Dee, Remus, do you want to come help?”

His companions nodded, and Roman felt a stab of panic as they stood to leave. He hadn’t gotten any of the information he needed to prove Virgil’s innocence! They couldn’t just  _ leave! _

“That’s terrible! Could we come along to help take care of it?” Patton glanced at Logan, who was also getting up. Neither of them wanted to lose their chance to figure out whether Virgil was actually evil or not, and they knew Roman would want to come along too, albeit for… other reasons.

Virgil and Deceit exchanged confused (and almost panicked) looks. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

* * *

**Somewhere Else**

* * *

Thomas glanced at his phone. He hadn’t expected to hear from Virgil or his friends until they were actually in his house. He groaned when he saw Deceit’s text message. 

“We have a problem: Date and co. are coming too.”

He started heading downstairs. If he clogged all the drains in the basement and turned on both faucets down there, it would probably be sufficiently flooded by the time Virgil, Virgil’s date, and everyone else arrived so as to not be suspicious to those who didn’t already know that the emergency was supposed to be faked. His phone buzzed again.

“ETA: 15 minutes.”

Thomas rolled his eyes and changed course towards the back door to grab the hose.

* * *

Not too long afterwards, the group found themselves standing in front of a cozy-looking house. A man with messy brown hair rushed out the front door to greet them. “Hey! You brought friends!”

Virgil smiled. “Yeah. I was on my date with that guy I mentioned, and his friends saw us and came to say hello, and then when you called, they asked if they could help.”

Virgil’s dad turned towards Roman, Patton, and Logan and grinned. “Nice to meet you! You can call me Thomas. Thanks for coming to help out! I’m sure you’ll make this much easier.”

And so they all went down into the flooded basement and formed a line to pass things out. Patton and Logan were surprised. If these three were truly the villains they thought they might be, why were they so happy to do this kind of thing? They were full of smiles and banter, and the expected unpleasant task went quickly and smoothly as they threw themselves into it.

They were done by lunch time, and Thomas insisted that they all stay for a meal. At some point, Remus and Deceit had slipped away, and Virgil was quick to disappear as well after the meal, with only a brief whispered exchange with his dad to explain.

Patton and Logan exchanged a look, and Thomas laughed. “Don’t worry, they’ll be back soon. They just went to visit Remus and Eth- Deceit’s grandmother while they were in the neighborhood. They may not be biologically related any more than I am to Virgil, but she raised them both. They’re as much her kids as they are mine, and the three of them always visit both of us when they’re in the area.”

Roman smiled. He was pleased that his brother had been taken care of by such great people, but he was a little disappointed that his date had been cut short. 

Logan was pleased for a different reason. With this chance for insight into Virgil’s character straight from the man who’d raised him, he might be able to figure out why he had decided to be a criminal. Evidently, Patton was on the same page. 

“That’s so sweet! They actually grew up together? That must be why they’re so close!”

Thomas laughed. “They weren’t always so close. I remember back when it was just Virgil and E- Deceit. They used to  _ hate _ each other-”

When the time to leave finally came,they all struggled to hide their disappointment.. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This didn't fit into the chapter, but I couldn't wait and post it later -   
> Virgil and Thomas share the last name "Sanders"  
> Remus and Deceit's last name is [redacted], but they use "Sanders"  
> Patton, Logan, and Roman share the last name "Thomas" with their adoptive parents, Joan and Talyn.  
> This will show up later, since this AU has taken my creativity hostage, and will eventually become a series since I can't get it out of my head. 
> 
> "Joan Thomas" and "Talyn Thomas" had my siblings and I cracking up for DAYS. I could not restrain myself.


	7. Chapter Six: Enter All, In Disguise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Patton changes his mind (not for the last time) and tries his hands at interrogation.

Patton pulled Roman and Logan aside as they left. ”Roman, I think you might be right. A-about the mind control thing.”

Logan looked between Roman and Patton. “Really? What happened today to give you that impression?”

“I don’t know, something about the way he dropped everything to help his dad? It doesn’t seem to line up with what we’ve seen from Spectre and his… friends.”

“On the contrary, they routinely ensure that damage to places they steal from is minimal and that there is no evidence of wrongdoing on the part of anyone who could otherwise be turned into a scapegoat for their crimes, and those they run into in-costume after robberies have reported that they are exceedingly generous. This kindness to someone so close to one of their own is not out of character at all.”

Roman wrinkled his nose. “Isn’t it, though? They make a habit - make a  _ living _ \- off of breaking the law, and that hurts people.”

Patton chimed in, “I think Roman might be right, Lo. I know I was skeptical earlier, but what we’ve seen from Virgil doesn’t seem like what we know of Spectre at all.”

Logan scowled. He wanted to shout at them, to  _ make _ them listen, but he knew from experience that that wouldn’t have the desired effect. Once his brothers - and he  _ did _ think of Roman as a brother - made up their minds, there was no changing them. But he knew that Virgil wasn’t being forced into anything, at least not in the all-encompassing way they’d seen from the various important people Auger had coaxed into helping him with his illicit deeds.

“What if I ask Mayor Moretti about what it was like to be under Auger’s control? I’ve been meaning to talk to him, and this way we can settle our argument over whether or not Virgil’s being coerced without fighting.” Patton’s argument may not have been entirely unsound, but Logan was still frustrated that his brothers wouldn’t let him explain his thought process yet again. “You know I hate it when we fight.”

Logan’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly. 

“I know, Patton. I dislike being in conflict with you as well.”

Patton grinned, and for that shining moment, all was well again.

* * *

Virgil was tense, but from excitement rather than anxiety. Yes, he was worried about going out again after having his face revealed, but it had been long enough without incident that he was beginning to relax and feel more comfortable with returning to the field. 

And he couldn’t deny that he’d missed it - the teamwork, the thrill of the fight, of the chase, and the banter both with his own team and with their rivals (and Notion in particular, though he would deny that for as long as Remus and Deceit would let him). 

Still, it was odd for him to be excited rather than anxious during a heist, though it certainly made it easier to influence things for the better rather than the worse. His powers may have been more subtle than anyone else’s that he knew of (except for maybe Minerva’s - Remus hadn’t quite convinced him that Minerva didn’t have any superpowers, but he still had no clue what said powers could possible be) but he still had to be careful to keep from influencing things negatively. Like he had last time.

And it was much easier to control when he wasn’t on the verge of a panic attack. The last time he’d been that distressed without anything bad happening to make it worse was when he was unmasked. He had expected one or all of his rivals to find him within the day, but it seemed that his civilian life was safe from them for the time being.

No, Virgil was sure that this time, things would go well. Even their rival team (which really needed a name) showing up couldn’t ruin things this time.

Suddenly, he heard Trueheart’s hesitant voice from behind him. “Spectre?”

Virgil immediately tensed. Trueheart was much more dangerous in a conversation than a confrontation, but he had to stall for Remus and Deceit to get out with the goods anyway. He just hoped (because he couldn’t gather the confidence for the level of conviction which would  _ make _ it happen) that Trueheart wouldn’t use his powers to make him do anything he’d regret. “Yes?”

* * *

Patton was tense. Given their suspicions, when they’d seen that Spectre - Virgil - was standing guard, they’d decided to start with a peaceful approach. Which meant that Patton had to talk to him. Without giving away that he knew anything about Virgil personally, as that would freak him out.

He didn’t want to scare Virgil off, as they might never get another chance to rescue him from Auger’s control if they blew their chance now. “Spectre?”

Virgil turned, his eyes guarded. “Yes?”

“I noticed that you don’t seem to enjoy the fighting thing like some of the others do.” Patton bit back the nickname that threatened to follow his words - it wouldn’t do to be overly familiar.

“Neither do you. Actually, R-Blackguard and Notion are the only ones who actually seem to  _ enjoy _ ‘the fighting thing,’ as you put it, so it’s not like it’s unusual.”

Patton put a little persuasive power behind his words to compel Virgil to answer his next couple questions honestly, and refused to feel guilty about it. “Do you like the, uh, the crime thing? Is it something you decided to do, or are you just tagging along for some other reason?”

Virgil’s eyes glazed over as the compulsion to answer took hold, and Patton ignored the brief stab of guilt. “I mean, if you asked me a few years ago if I thought I was going to start committing crimes with my friends as a weird side job, I probably would have said no, but not without considering it first.”

“Then why do you do it?”

“E- De- Auger can be pretty persuasive when he wants to be. He-”

Suddenly, Blackguard slammed the door open behind them. His voice was almost cheerful as he shouted at them - at  _ him _ . “What the  _ heck!  _ Are you doing?”

Patton jumped and whirled to face them as Auger stepped over the threshold with a menacing look. “I think you need to leave Spectre alone.”

He hated being on this end of the power he seemed to share with Auger. The inability to ignore the command he’d been given never failed to terrify him. Luckily for Patton, Roman and Logan had started moving as soon as the door had opened, and so were ready to help out almost instantly. 

They focused their efforts on Auger, as none of them wanted to do anything to hurt Virgil or Blackguard if they truly weren’t in control of their actions. (And even if they were, Roman at least would still have nothing to do with hurting his fragile new relationship or the other masked conjurer who was almost certainly his brother.)

None of the heroes missed the dark look Auger sent at Blackguard and Spectre, or how they made themselves scarce afterwards. Thy did seem to miss whatever happened next, though, because the next thing the three knew, they were alone at the scene of the crime - and had apparently been so for a while, judging by the first rays of sun beginning to peek over the horizon.


	8. Chapter Seven: Enter Deceit, Through Window

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conclusions are drawn, only one of them correct

Virgil had recognised the look on Deceit’s face, but Remus hadn’t. It was to be expected - Virgil had known him longer, after all, had seen that particular brand of desperate fury before on a smaller scale, back when it was just the two of them against the world whenever they weren’t at home. He recognised it from all the other times Deceit had stayed behind to make sure that they would be protected.

Remus hadn’t started to leave until Virgil did, and even then he wasn’t quite sure what was happening. By the time he’d joined them, those who they once needed protection from had mostly been scared off.

Virgil filled him in on a couple of the long-standing contingencies they had set up (back when the biggest threat that they might have to separate for was a bully who wouldn’t be persuaded by Ethan’s silver tongue, back before they had even considered a life of crime, how the time had flown, and _why_ _hadn’t they thought to inform Remus sooner?_ ) as they made their way back to Virgil’s apartment, where he knew Deceit would meet them.

Sure enough, shortly after they crossed the threshold, a window slid open and Deceit slithered through. After a cursory check to determine that he was unhurt, Virgil and Remus relaxed, and they all sprawled out on Virgil’s bed. 

Who, not one to be excluded, rushed into the room, wailing for attention. Virgil nearly laughed as he scooped her up, and they all settled in for a long talk.

* * *

Roman leaned back in his seat and scowled. They had just finished listening to Patton’s recording of his conversation with Virgil the previous night, and his suspicions had been confirmed.

“I knew it! ‘Auger can be persuasive when he wants to be?’ He admitted it! We have to do something!”

Patton only nodded, having had more time to come to terms with the information he’d discovered. As he and Roman set to planning how to ‘rescue’ Virgil (and Blackguard, since they assumed that he was in the same boat) from Auger’s control, Logan frowned.

Patton had been pushing Virgil to tell him whether or not Auger was influencing him with his powers, but Virgil hadn’t said that he was, just that he had been persuaded. That did not necessarily mean that Auger was using his powers on his teammates, just that he had convinced Virgil to join him, somehow. A well thought-out argument could have been just as effective.

Logan tuned back into the conversation in time to hear Patton’s role in the plan. 

“I’ll go talk to Mayor Moretti like I’d planned earlier, and maybe that’ll help us figure out how to break Auger’s control on his team. I mean, it has to be possible, otherwise he would still be doing Auger’s bidding.”

“What makes you think he’s not?”

Patton frowned. “Logan, I’m surprised at you! Of course he’s not, we would have noticed that kind of thing by now.”

“I think that we should consider all of the possibilities, regardless of which one you believe is most likely. You certainly can’t fault me for that.”

Roman took that moment to interrupt to try and defuse the tension he felt building. “And what _is_ the most likely possibility, Cassandra?”

Logan frowned at the nickname, but answered anyway. “It is most likely that Auger’s influence dissipated as his orders went for an increased period of time without being renewed, much like we have observed of how Patton’s powers function. In this case, he would be unable to offer any insights on how to ‘break’ Auger’s influence, as you put it, since he would have no experience with such matters.”

Patton’s voice shifted to the tone he always used to end arguments. “Well, talking to him sure won’t do any harm, and it might help us figure _something_ out.”

With a sigh, Logan conceded, knowing that he would not be able to make his brother see his point without letting him try things his own way first. “Very well, but I expect he will not have any helpful information to share, and so will be pursuing my own ideas on how to remedy our issue.”

* * *

The atmosphere was sombre in Virgil’s room, if only because no one knew what exactly was going on. 

After a while, Virgil broke the silence. “What happened after we left?”

“Not much. I told them to stop, and to stay put until someone came to get them or until sunrise, whichever came first. Then I came straight here.”

Remus piped in, “So the thing with the window was just to be dramatic? I knew I was rubbing off on you!”

With that, the serious conversation devolved into a short-lived wrestling match as Deceit tried to push Remus off of the bed (Virgil was noticing a pattern). Once Remus had been exiled to the floor for his offense, Virgil spoke up again.

“What I don’t get is why they were all weird in the first place.” He chewed on his thumbnail as Deceit formulated his answer.

“They definitely don’t have any special interest in you, specifically. I bet it has nothing to do with your grand unmasking, and that it’ll just go away if we ignore it.”

Virgil winced. “Okay, but what do we do about it then?” 

It was Remus who answered. “That might depend on what Trueheart was grilling you about, finding emo.”

“I mean, he asked if I like committing crimes, and why I did it. He got cut off before he could get to the point. Thanks for that, by the way.”

Deceit’s gaze sharpened. “What did you say you were ‘doing crimes’ for?”

Virgil shrugged. “The truth, of course, since he was using his powers. That you… _oh._ ”

“That he what?” Remus frowned, left out of the joke again as Deceit choked back laughter.

Virgil’s voice was flat. “I told Trueheart that Deceit persuaded me to join him in a life of crime, and now he thinks he’s using his powers on me in order to make me work with him.”

Deceit’s laughter trailed off, and he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. “That _definitely_ has nothing to do with why they were so… _excited_ to fight me and leave the two of you alone.”

Remus felt a demented smile spreading across his face. “What do we want to do about it?”


	9. Chapter Eight: Enter Mayor Moretti, Slimeball Supreme

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slimy man is nasty (no, not that slimy man), though not as nasty as he was going to be (or as nasty as he will be), and someone (who shall remain nameless) FINALLY tells the crime team things. It's only fair, after all. Also Logan deserves better.

Patton felt an odd dissonance, to be walking around in his hero getup in broad daylight. But then, it was Trueheart who was expected at an appointment with the mayor, not Patton. They wouldn’t let him in on such short notice if they thought that he was just a receptionist at a veterinary clinic, that was for sure. 

He was always slightly uncomfortable at the privileges his alter ego afforded him, but wouldn’t hesitate to use them if it meant protecting people. He wouldn’t let Auger (or anyone else) use their powers on people without their consent. 

The mayor’s receptionist took one look at him in his costume and ushered him back into the man’s office. He was alone for now, but once the mayor’s previous meeting ended, he would be able to have his conversation.

He was almost ready to step out the door and see what was taking so long when it swung open. “Trueheart! A pleasure to see you, as always. What brings you here today?” 

Mayor Bryce Moretti was a stocky, affable man. His eyes were warm, and his face creased with laughter lines, but there was a hint of steel in the curve of his spine that belied the fierceness which had helped keep him his office. His dark suit emphasized his broad shoulders and powerful arms, a subtle reminder of the violence he had proven himself capable of during an attempt on his life several years before, though he had never been anything less than kind to those who weren’t working against him.

Patton smiled. “I have a couple questions about your time under Auger’s control-”

Moretti straightened, and Patton almost missed the way his hand twitched towards the top drawer of his desk. “Why would you need to know about that?” he asked in a low, sharp voice.

“I have reason to suspect that a- a friend might be being  _ influenced _ by Auger, and thought your experiences might provide some useful insight.” Patton hated the forced formality, hated that he had to do things Logan’s way in order to get information to prove Logan wrong, but despite the number of appearances they’d made together, Trueheart and Moretti would never be friends, and it was necessary.

Moretti strode to the door, and Patton readied himself to be kicked out for overstepping. Instead, he called to his secretary, “Lauren? Push back my next meeting an hour or so, Trueheart and I have some things to discuss.”

The door closed with a final-sounding thud, and Moretti sat back down, then leaned over his desk, his hands pressed together and a dangerous smile on his face. “So. What exactly do you want to know?”

* * *

Logan and Roman waited for Patton to return from his appointment with the mayor. Usually, Logan was the one to deal with his political maneuvering, but it had been decided that since Patton was convinced of the conversation’s importance, it would be Patton who would meet with him this time. Logan wondered if perhaps that decision had been a mistake, but if so, it was far too late to correct it.

Roman was almost ready to do something drastic when the door slammed open and Patton, still in costume, burst through. 

“How did your meeting go?” Roman didn’t notice how lost Patton looked until he’d already asked the question, and winced. “That good, huh padre?”

Patton sat down and rested his head on his hands. “I’m not so sure that Virgil’s being influenced by Auger after all.”

Roman’s jaw dropped, and he missed Logan’s unsurprised look. “Of course he is! Virgil’s not evil!”

“Perhaps if, as you say,” Logan gestured to Roman, “he’s not evil, and as you say,” then gestured to Patton, “he’s not being forced to do anything, then the things he is doing may not be evil, and we should try to hear out his reasons for doing them.”

“We already  _ heard _ his reasons, Logan, he said he was Auger was making him do it!”

“Did he actually say that? I thought he said that Auger had persuaded him. I wonder what arguments Auger offered that convinced someone like Virgil to join him on a ‘crime spree,’ as you would describe it.”

Patton tried to interrupt their argument, but they just kept talking over him.

“You’ve met him  _ three _ times while he wasn’t _ actively _ breaking the law, dweebasaur, I don’t think you’re in a position to pass judgement on his character.”

“Oh, and you are? You have also interacted with him a mere handful of times, and you believe yourself to be a better character witness?”

At this point, with Logan and Roman both bristling with anger, Patton finally forced his way into the argument. “Enough!” 

They stopped, more out of shock from Patton’s raised voice than desire for mediation or from the subtle influence he pressed into his words. Patton’s voice wasn’t harsh by any means, but the fact that the relatively non confrontational man was responding at all was a sign of just how upset he was.

“Enough. Logan, I don’t think you’re right this time. Virgil may not have bad intentions, but he’s still breaking the laws which were put in place to protect people, and that’s bad.” Patton’s voice was gentle, but his refusal to hear Logan out still stung.

Roman scowled. “You still haven’t elaborated on why you think he’s not being controlled. You did make him tell the truth, and he  _ said _ Auger used his powers on him!”

“No, he  _ said _ that Auger had persuaded him! You don’t have to be able to force people to do or think what you tell them to in order to be persuasive!” Logan privately thought that it might be easier to persuade people than it would be if he had that particular skill, as his friends would never suspect that  _ he  _ was using his powers influence them to agree with him.

Patton’s disapproving look stopped Roman from responding. “I- The symptoms of long-term mind control that Mayor Moretti and his secretary outlined don’t sound like Virgil at all.”

Roman’s brow furrowed. “Explain.”

Patton frowned. “He said that when he was under Auger’s control, his friends noticed a change in his personality. That he seemed dazed if Auger hadn’t contacted him to renew his instructions in a while, and that people commented on how differently he was acting. Don’t you think Virgil’s friends would have tried to do something? Or that his dad would have? Mr.Sanders- I mean, Thomas seemed like the kind of dad to keep up with his kids, even though they’re adults. Don’t you think he would have noticed something?”

“What’s to say they haven’t? As  _ Logan _ pointed out,” Roman glared, “We’ve only met them a few times.”

“But we’ve helped so many others who Auger controlled. Surely they would know to try and contact us! That’s how we knew to help most of the people he was manipulating!”

Logan stopped listening. It was clear that they weren’t going to listen to him, so he didn’t bother to share his suspicions about Virgil’s friends, who acted far too much like Auger and Blackguard for it to be a coincidence. He left the discussion feeling unsatisfied, but determined. He would have to make his move soon. Not too soon, though - he had a feeling that something else would need to happen tonight.

* * *

Virgil scowled. “Why are we here again?”

Deceit - or Auger, as he was in costume - rolled his eyes. “Because I got a text from someone who’s connected our civilian lives with our alter egos, and we’re meeting here to determine whether or not they’re a serious threat. And before you ask, we didn’t bring Remus because, well, of course we didn’t, have you  _ met _ Remus?.”

A figure stepped out of the shadows. “I’m glad you decided to meet me. Hello, Spectre, Auger. Or would you prefer I use your other names?”

Virgil’s eyes widened in recognition, and he shifted, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. “M-”

Deceit cut him off. “Auger and Spectre are fine, thank you. I will say, I’m surprised to see _you_ , of all people, here.”

“I have some information I thought you might be interested in.”

Virgil’s voice was firm, but his tone was curious. “Oh? And what information is that?”

He turned to Deceit. “Trueheart was poking around today, he thinks you’re controlling your teammates. I suspect that the others will confront you about it soon.”

“Not that I’m complaining, but why tell us this? You haven’t exactly approved of our actions.” Deceit’s arms were crossed, but he was clearly open to hear whatever answers were offered.

“I may not have approved, but I’m not so sure I disapprove either. I’m willing to hear your reasons, and if I think they’re good ones, I would certainly be open to helping you, perhaps even giving you information which would help you evade Trueheart and… company more effectively.”

Virgil spoke up. “That might take a while.” He bit his thumbnail, indecisive, and then apparently came to a decision. “Do you want to come with us to my apartment to continue this conversation?”

He smiled. “That would be nice.”


	10. Chapter Nine: The Storm Calms; Exit Logan, Stage Left (Open Act 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A reprise of chapter 2 - nothing has changed, and yet, everything has.

Logan was sitting across their usual table from Patton and Roman, frowning. He wanted to talk to them, wanted to clear the air about Virgil, but he knew that they would not be convinced, and neither would he, so he didn’t bring it up. Instead, he tried to prepare for his day at the clinic.

Remy shot him a concerned look as he dropped off their food. The table was only this quiet after they’d fallen asleep on a fight without resolving anything, and unlike Logan, he didn’t miss the concerned and guilty looks Patton and Roman were giving Logan.. “Trouble in paradise?”

Roman frowned. “I mean, yeah, a little.”

Remy didn’t want to address the obvious tension at the table without one of them bringing it up first, so he pretended he didn’t notice it. He furrowed his eyebrows, and his voice grew more gentle. “Are you and Virgil doing okay?”

Looking lost and angry, Roman replied, “We’re- It’s not- What would you do if a friend turned out to be doing something wrong behind your back? Would you still want to be friends with them? He’s- he’s great and all, but the company he keeps, and the things they do together-”

Remy shot him a knowing look. “That won’t go away if you’re not friends, darlin’. If it’s really that bad, try and talk him out of it. As far as Virgil goes,” Remy winked, his expression playful but his tone earnest, “Remus and Deceit are gonna stick with their boy, come hell or high water, but he’ll keep them out of anything too preposterous. If you like him, go for it. You won’t regret it.”

Patton’s smile seemed worn out. “Thanks, Remy. I think we all needed to hear that.”

“No problem, gurl, you know I love telling people what to do.” Remy sashayed off, and silence enveloped the table again, only a little less uncomfortable than before.

* * *

Patton frowned behind the check-in desk at the clinic. He loved his brother, but he was still hung up on what had happened the night before. Why would Logan try and protect Auger’s team? They were breaking laws and hurting people, and though Patton was willing to excuse some of that when he thought that most of it was being forced, he couldn’t bring himself to excuse it now, not when they knew what they were doing and did it anyway.

His brooding was interrupted when someone rushed in the doors. “Virgil?”

Virgil grinned, looking much more relaxed than Patton had ever seen him before. “Hey, Pat. Can I check in early? Who’s ready for her shots, and if I get her home before Remus burns down the building, he’ll take care of her while I’m at work.”

Patton smiled despite himself, and lingered over the check-in process. He then watched Virgil take a seat and comfort Who as he waited for Logan to call him back. Like before, Who wasn’t in a carrier, but this time, Patton got a better look at her. One eye was green, and the other was a blue so dark it was almost purple. Her fur was long and, despite her fluffiness, she was tiny, and could only be a couple months old.

He smiled as Virgil stroked her fur, and felt an odd melancholy air fall over the waiting room as Virgil was called back to the examination room.

* * *

Roman stared blankly at his phone screen, then deleted the text he was about to send with a sigh. He dropped his phone on the table and got up to pace the room, hands shoved in his pockets as he tried to ignore the pit in his stomach. He was doing everything right, but he wanted…

He didn’t know what he wanted, but he knew that it involved fixing things with Virgil. Virgil, who didn’t even know that anything was wrong between them in the first place. When he asked Virgil out, he hadn’t planned on  _ liking _ him. Hadn’t planned to enjoy spending time with him, to  _ want  _ to spend time with him, to…

Roman figured he would regret his decision later, but he wasn’t going to stop. He shoved his phone in his pocket and strode out the door. (His reasons not to go were all flimsy anyways.)

* * *

Virgil sat behind the counter, feeling more at ease than he had since he’d been unmasked, or even before that. The bell on the door rang, and even the thought of interacting with a potential stranger couldn’t destroy his good mood. It felt nice, to be supported by someone he’d thought was against him. Odd to think about, to be sure, but he hadn’t made friends with anyone new since he’d met Remy, and he was probably overdue. 

* * *

Roman opened the door to the bookstore slowly, so as to avoid letting the bell ring too loudly, but he knew that Virgil heard it from the quiet shuffling he heard through the stacks. He slipped confidently through the labyrinthine shelves. “Virgil?” The man in question looked up at him and grinned.

* * *

When Patton, Logan, and Roman came back together that evening, they were all tense and sombre. It was Patton who spoke first. “I think we need to address what happened last night, kiddos.”

Roman was clearly still sore about it. “You mean how Logan was super defensive of Auger’s team and you tried to convince me that my- that Virgil is evil.”

Patton winced. “Yes, Roman. I’m sorry-”

“But you’re right, or at least not wrong! I’m not sure they’re evil, but what they’re doing is definitely wrong! Just because I’m attached doesn’t mean that I should let them keep doing it! I just- I want-” 

“I know, Ro, I know, and I’m so proud of you, of  _ us, _ for doing the right thing.”

Logan scowled. “What makes it the right thing? You won’t even hear them out, maybe they have information which would make it okay!”

Patton looked confused. “What could possibly make it okay? Stealing and forcing people to do your bidding are bad things! Why-”

As Patton was talking, Logan glanced to Roman for support. His heart sank when he realized that Roman didn’t wholly disagree with his point, but still wouldn’t come to the defense of his… whatever Virgil was to him. “Patton, this time, I’m not quite so sure  _ you’re _ in the right. And rehashing this same argument yet again won’t provide any benefit if neither of you will  _ listen _ to me!”

Roman jolted out of his shocked stupor as Logan turned to leave. “Logan, wait! We-” 

The door slammed between them with a final-sounding  _ thud _ .


	11. Chapter Ten: Enter Logan, Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This has gotten way angstier than it was supposed to, and I'm sorry.  
> Things are coming to a head. Buckle up

Someone was knocking on the door of Virgil’s apartment. Remus and Deceit got up with Virgil, but hung back as he went to open the door, instead skulking behind him, ready to help out if necessary, but content to let Virgil handle whoever was at the door. It was, after all, his apartment.

Virgil peered through the peephole, then rushed to open the door, revealing Logan, dripping wet. “Jeez, L, what happened?”

“I had an argument with Patton and Roman, and left because they wouldn’t listen to me. If I had expected that it would rain, I might not have left. Can I- I know we’re not that close, but-”

Virgil pulled him inside. “Of course, Logan, whatever you need.” 

Surrounded by his rival team, Logan felt more at peace than he had in a long time.

* * *

Patton was worried. Logan had stormed out the night before. He wasn’t answering his calls, he hadn’t shown up to the diner that morning (he had  _ never  _ missed a morning before, no matter how upset he was) and it was his day off at the clinic, so Patton couldn’t get ahold of him at work. He usually spent his lunch break with Logan, and now, sitting with Roman at an otherwise-empty table, the lack of Logan’s steady presence beside him  _ ached _ .

He’d never felt so distant from his brother before.They’d been together for as long as Patton could remember - his very first memory was holding Logan for the first time, mere hours after he’d been brought home. They’d always understood that they’d always have each other, and later Roman as well. And now, it seemed like Logan was drifting away - had been drifting away for a while, not that Patton had noticed - and Patton could no longer quite reach him. 

“Why won’t he answer? I’m trying to fix things, doesn’t he want that?”

Patton was lost without Logan, but Roman was angry. “I’ll tell you why Dennis Nerdry won’t pick up your calls! He’s gone to the dark side!”

“Roman, I’m sure Logan wouldn’t-”

Roman was pacing again, his hands moving sharply as he spoke. “He’s been distant for a while - spacing out during conversations, ignoring us - at  _ least _ since we unmasked Spectre, maybe longer, and he sure seemed awfully quick to jump to their defense last night, despite  _ admitting _ that he didn’t know why-” He froze, his eyes widening and the blood draining from his face. “ _ Oh _ .”

Patton felt a pit form in his stomach. His voice trembled. “Oh what, Roman?” 

“Refresh my memory, Pat - it’s been a long couple of days. What were the signs of long-term mind control again?”

* * *

Logan woke up in the early afternoon, a function of how long he had stayed up talking with Virgil. For the first time since he and his brothers had entered the hero (vigilante) business, he felt unburdened, even relaxed. He sat up on the couch he’d slept on and slipped his glasses back onto his face, then turned and did a double take at the scene behind him.

Virgil, Remus, and Deceit were at the table in the clothes (or lack thereof) that they’d slept in - Virgil in a skeleton onesie, Remus almost fully nude (covered only by a ridiculously tiny pair of underwear, which he’d probably just put on that morning), and Deceit, like Logan, in the same outfit he’d worn the day before.

He almost felt awkward, watching the casually intimate motions of his new companions, and then Deceitl looked up at him and gestured towards Remus (who was struggling to retrieve his unsalvageably burnt toast from the toaster, armed only with with a spoon) with an eye roll. Virgil ducked his head and snickered, and suddenly Logan was a part of the scene. 

His happiness was less exuberant that Roman’s or Patton’s would have been, but even he couldn’t deny the warm feeling rising inside of him. In fact, he didn’t even really want to try. He just let himself be included, pulled into the group of villains like he had always been a part of them, had always belonged with them. He ducked his head to hide a smile behind his mug of coffee.

* * *

Patton wanted to skip the rest of his shift, shaken by the horrifying realization that Logan was being controlled by Auger  _ at that very moment _ . He wanted to find him, to save him the way he’d saved so many of the others who’d been in the same situation, but he had to wait. He couldn’t get anyone to cover for him, and he knew that his job came first. Logan, after all, probably wouldn’t be any worse off for waiting until Patton and Roman were prepared for his rescue, but some of the animals coming in for treatment… well, Patton was relieved that Logan wasn’t the only vet at their clinic.

The time passed both too quickly and far too slowly for his tastes. When he (finally!) clocked out and went home, he found Roman waiting for him. If they were rescuing anyone else, they might have gone in costume, but they didn’t know where Logan was, and didn’t want to scare their only lead.

Roman was the one to knock on the door. Each second they had to wait made Patton more tense, and by the time the door opened, he was trembling.

Virgil looked confused. “Roman? Patton? What are you doing here?” 

He kept the door angled so that they couldn’t see inside, and Roman burned at the thought of what he was hiding. He couldn’t believe that he had almost been willing to overlook… But Virgil was a villain, through and through. The things he’d done to Logan (the things he was probably doing to Logan  _ right now _ ) just proved it. Roman cleared his throat. “Have you seen Logan lately? He stormed out last night and won’t answer his phone.”

Virgil’s expression was guarded, but he stepped aside and opened the door the rest of the way. “Why don’t you come in? I think- He- We should talk.”

Roman’s expression was stormy as he strode through the door and into the dim apartment, Patton hot on his heels.


	12. Chapter Eleven: Enter All, They Fight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Virgil is getting tired of all these people coming into his home uninvited, though he would never come out and say it

Virgil was tense. His friends (except for Logan) had left to pick up something for dinner, since his kitchen was mostly empty of all but the most basic staples, and he was effectively alone in the apartment while Logan took a shower. Of course Patton and Roman decided that now was the time to pay him a visit in their search for their wayward brother.

It hadn’t been long enough since he’d learned about the truth behind his relationships with Patton, Logan, and (worst of all) Roman for it to sink in. He’d known about their secret identities for less than a day by the time he’d let Logan in the night before, and as much as he appreciated the tip, he wished he’d had more time to process and figure out exactly how he was meant to proceed.

He felt so incredibly lucky that they couldn’t possibly know how much he knew, not unless they’d been told, and something made him think that that wasn’t the case. Something about the way they had all come to him for help, or the way they kept pretending that they knew nothing about his alter ego.

And wasn’t that just a slap in the face - that the first time he truly let his guard down since becoming Spectre, the first time he started to trust someone, it turned out that they had only been interested in him because of the mask he wore. That would probably affect his self-esteem once it had had time to sink in, but for now he was just hurt and angry.

He sat down on the couch where Logan had slept the night before, and cursed internally as he noticed the glasses that had been left on the coffee table. He couldn’t hide them now, so he would have to hope that neither Patton nor Roman noticed them, or his plan to deny everything would inevitably fail, and probably be misconstrued as sinister. He tried to summon the confidence to trick himself into believing that they wouldn’t see them, but the knowledge that use of his powers was necessary poisoned the effort. Instead, he tried desperately to reassure himself that there was no guarantee that they would notice and waited for Remus and Deceit to get back.

* * *

Roman and Patton positioned themselves subtly between Virgil and the door. Patton felt bad about the necessity, but he clearly couldn’t be trusted. He glanced around the room as Roman prepared his first question, then struggled to hold in a gasp. Logan had definitely been here fairly recently, there was no mistaking the glasses with frames to match Patton’s own. 

He shifted, trying to subtly catch Roman’s eye, then gestured towards them. Other than a glance out of the corner of his eye, Roman gave no outward signs of having noticed at all, but Patton was sure he had.

“I didn’t know you wore glasses, Virgil!” Roman covered his panic with the exuberance he had become known for by friend and foe alike. (And it certainly stung that Virgil had turned out to be one of the latter.) 

Virgil’s internal cursing increased in volume. “I don’t. Those aren’t mine-”

He tried not to cringe away as Patton started speaking, but could tell that he hadn’t quite managed to hide his fear of falling under Patton’s control again when Roman shot him a bewildered look. Luckily, Patton didn’t seem to notice his flinch.

“Well whose are they, kiddo? I want to know who else had such great taste in frames!” To illustrate, Patton gestured to where his own glasses sat on his face.

Patton may have been smiling brightly, but Virgil felt something off in his cheerful mask. “I- uh- They’re-”

“They’re mine.”

Patton and Roman both whirled around to see Logan standing behind them in day-old clothes, his hair damp and a towel around his shoulders. He looked unimpressed at their presence, and slid past them to grab his glasses and join Virgil on the couch. 

When he next spoke, his voice was tired. “I’d ask why you decided to come here, but I’m fairly confident in the answer I came up with. Why would you assume that D-Auger had anything to do with our fight when you’re both perfectly capable of ignoring my input on your own, without any of us being influenced to make that more likely?”

Roman shifted uncomfortably. “Logan, I-”

“Wait, they think that you stormed out because I  _ made  _ you, rather than that you could possibly have been upset of your own free will? Oh,  _ that _ is  _ hilarious! _ ”

Again, Patton and Roman turned towards the new voice. (Roman was beginning to wonder if having their backs to the door was such a stellar idea after all.) There stood Deceit and Remus in the doorway with a couple pizza boxes.

A sword sprouted in Roman’s hand.

“That’s enough.” Deceit’s voice was almost bored, and his expression was unimpressed. “I  _ had _ hoped that this could be worked out  _ without _ my intervention, but I’m not exactly surprised that it’s come to this. Here’s what’s going to happen: you, Roman, or do you prefer Notion?” 

Roman tensed, but couldn’t do much else. “-are going to put the sword away, and you and Patton are both going to sit down and listen. And if, after having heard our  _ dear _ Minerva out, and having had time to consider, you  _ still _ believe that there is  _ no _ acceptable excuse for what we do, you can continue to fight us as if nothing happened.”

Roman dropped his sword, and it vaporized before it hit the floor. He and Patton mechanically walked to the couch, and each took a seat, as far from Logan and Virgil as they could get.

“Here’s your chance, Logan,” Deceit grinned, showing off more teeth than Roman had previously thought possible. “To make them understand our side of things. They’ll trust it more from you.”

Logan shifted, not quite comfortable with the show of force, but began to explain, nonetheless.


	13. Chapter Twelve: A New Team Emerges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This feels like a transition, and is set up for the next thing, but it also feels like an ending.

Logan couldn’t deny his disappointment at how Patton and Roman fled as soon as he was done talking, but he wasn’t surprised in the slightest. He sighed.

“It seems unlikely that I will be doing anything with them for a while, I doubt that I will be welcome for some of our usual activities at least until we manage to work past this.”

Virgil cringed and bit his thumbnail again. “I’m sorry, I-”

“There’s no need to apologise, Virgil, something along these lines was inevitable, it just happened now rather than later because I… care about you and wanted to defend you from their baseless accusations. I’m sure the tension between us will be resolved eventually, but nothing was said that didn’t need to be said at some point.”

“Thanks, L.”

Remus pulled a stick of deodorant from a cupboard and tried to spread it over his pizza. “You know, Specs, we could make space for you in our usual activities.” 

Deceit cut him off before he started making obscene gestures. “I do believe that was an invitation. You’re welcome to join us for our…  _ unusual  _ activities, as well. Think about it.”

Logan took in the way they were all looking at him - hopeful, excited,  _ accepting _ \- and nearly smiled. “I certainly might take you up on that.”

* * *

Patton felt lost. If he’d thought Logan had been distant before their fight, now they were practically strangers. He didn’t show up to the diner, didn’t greet Patton at work, and was nearly totally absent. When he said that he needed time and space to process the information he’d been given, he hadn’t expected that Logan would pull away so completely.

He wanted to contact Logan and say that he understood, to apologise to Virgil, Remus, and (most of all) Deceit for how he’d treated them, to make amends for the hurt his harsh and stubborn actions had caused. He wanted to apologise for not bothering to get more information on the people that he helped, and for assuming that they were in the right just because they were on the side of the law.

But he knew that such conversations were better held in person, and he had no idea how to set up such a conversation.

* * *

Roman almost didn’t pick up the call, but in the end, he was too stubborn to ignore it. He hadn’t missed a single weekend call from his brother, not since they’d been separated, and he wasn’t about to ignore him over something so petty as not wanting to admit that he had been wrong. “Hey, Remus.”

“Using my name? You must feel awful!”

Roman scowled. “And what if I do? I was part of the problem, and now I can’t even make amends! Logan and Virgil are ghosting me-”

“Only because you told them you needed time-”

“- _ Patton’s _ feeling guilty and fluttering around trying to figure out how to make things right-”

“-and he’ll be able to-”

“-and I  _ still _ haven’t come to terms with the kind of awful people we were supporting and how that probably makes  _ me _ the supervillain and  _ you _ the superhero, which I  _ never _ expected-”

“Jeez, Roman, if you feel  _ that _ bad about it, come meet us tonight. Heck, bring Patton too!”

Roman took a few deep breaths before responding. “When and where?”

* * *

Patton donned his superhero outfit with no small measure of nervousness. When Roman had passed on Remus’ invitation to join them, he’d been overjoyed at the chance to make things right, but now he was worried. What if they had waited too long? What if they had damaged their relationships beyond repair?

By the time Roman came in - also dressed in his costume - with directions to the address Remus had given them, Patton was glad to be pulled from his thoughts.

They strode out the door, and it felt like they were stepping directly into something new and beautiful.

* * *

Virgil hadn’t been this at ease while committing crimes since they had acquired a team of rivals. He caused the alarms to fail with just a thought about how old they were, and nearly let out a giddy laugh.  _ This _ was what he’d missed - the sense of total freedom that came from working in perfect sync with a team without having to worry about watching their backs.

As if the thought had conjured them, Roman and Patton - no, Notion and Trueheart - rounded the corner and stopped just shy of where Logan and Remus were discussing how to break in most effectively. 

Logan looked up and froze, but Remus just grinned. “I’m glad you made it, you two. Now, you can talk if you want, but this bank isn’t going to rob itself, and-”

He stopped talking as Patton rushed forward and engulfed Logan in a hug. Logan hesitantly wrapped his arms around his brother, and Virgil turned his attention to Roman as Patton mumbled apologies into Logan’s shoulder.

“Virgil, I’m so-”

“If you apologise for assuming that I was evil, I might have to hit you.”

Roman stopped short, as if he’d been slapped across the face with a wet fish. 

“I know full well that you would do it all again if you could, and that you were doing your best with the distorted information you had. I don’t blame you for that. I do blame you for leading me on, but we can talk through that later. For now-” Virgil grinned and gestured towards the door. “Do you want to do the honors, or should I?”

Roman smiled back, and opened the door. They would be fine.


	14. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> hand-wavy politics go down, and the ending is shamelessly kind of lame. (I've been working on this for ages, give me a break!)

Mayor Bryce Moretti wasn’t particularly interested in the affairs of “superheroes.” As long as they protected his interests, he was happy to support their apparent vendetta against the ones who seemed so determined to expose his… shadier dealings, even when they weren’t doing anything which would affect him at all.

So when he walked into his office to find an urgent email with footage of the “heroes,” he almost ignored it. If Lauren hadn’t reminded him of it, he might have ignored it entirely.

When he finally watched it just before lunch, he was enraged. How _dare_ they? After all he had done? Why would they betray him in favor of- of-

He would _end_ them.

* * *

Although Virgil had deactivated the alarm system for their little heist, he had forgotten about the cameras, too distracted by the recruitment of Patton and Roman. It was the video from these cameras which had found its way into Moretti’s inbox, edited together into an incriminating masterpiece. They were lucky to have all been in costume, and lucky that there was no audio.

* * *

Logan and Deceit were the only ones who regularly checked more than one news site, but even the twins, who never checked more than the headlines, couldn’t miss the video that was circulating. 

The current theory was that it was cleverly faked. That wouldn’t last and they all knew it.

“What are we going to do about this?” Patton couldn’t figure out what could be done, but he knew something needed to be.

Deceit looked up from his phone. “It looks like this was leaked from the mayor’s office, where it was sent by a police investigation. Moretti’s _never_ left evidence of his dirty deals _anywhere_ where we could have stumbled across it, so I would _definitely_ be surprised if it came from him.”

Virgil smirked without looking up from his own phone. “The man has a vendetta.”

Remus stuck a finger up his nose and grinned. “We should expose him back!”

* * *

The article about Moretti’s shady operations as mayor made enough waves in headlines that the news of their team-up was buried. They all knew it wouldn’t last, but having the man come under fire was a reward of its own, and could help them get rid of him, which could only make their world a better place. They could face the disasters as they came, together, as a team.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a blast to write! I took the AU prompt and ran with it, and I'm so proud of what this has turned into! There are some scenes which didn't make it into the final draft which I might post later, but for now, I'm just basking in the glory of having finished a fic! 
> 
> Seriously, this is the first fic I've ever finished and also the longest piece of creative writing I've ever done. I'm so glad to have had this opportunity!


End file.
